Kotetsu was bound to regret his decision to leave the Uchiha clan sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner, as in the very next day. He spent countless hours playing through scenarios and wondering if he could have talked his way out of the egregious act he had committed. He spent sleepless nights imagining how he would apologise to Atsuo, to Keina, to Dan, to Eito, and all the others. As it happened, it would not be the first time he regretted his actions. Facing down a horde of Asura-latent boars, he once again found his regrets bubbling to the surface.
But it was too late for regrets. It was too late for a different course, and to change the way his life had gone. He could not erase what he did to the Uchiha clan. He could not erase his history with the Hyuuga clan, nor could he erase the hatred held by the old Senju who tormented him. And, at that moment, he could not erase the Asura's natural instincts to eat him.
However, it was not too late to change the way his life would continue. He could not erase his past, but he could forge ahead and make a better future. And of the actions he had access to, one stood out as the most essential to his immediate well being.
Kotetsu turned, and ran for his life.
—
Taisei and Aina continued to idly walk along the edge of a winding trench. Kotetsu had long since run off out of sight somewhere below, not that he was their problem at that moment. That was a good thing for Taisei, as he was busy reliving bittersweet memories. Aina followed along in silence, watching the young Senju battle with an event he'd endured in these pits years ago.
At some point early on in every Senju's life, they found themselves living in these pits. It served as a rite of passage, and a test. Many only had to suffer in these pits for a few months. For others, they could find themselves tossed back in again, and again, year after year. After all, for a Senju, the ultimate purpose of the boar pit was achieving one goal: awakening Wood release.
For Taisei, the act of survival was not new, or difficult; he had spent most of his early life roaming the mountains with his mother and father, after all. Not that his experience was easy in any way, for the Asura boars of the pit still required extraordinary care for any young Senju. But out of all of his relatively easy days surviving in the pits, only his final day in the pit was truly, horrifically bad.
The day itself had begun like many others, but Taisei had not known it would be his last day, for he had yet to show even the barest sign of a bloodline. In the pits, using Chakra was made near-impossible for multiple reasons, one being the ebony lining its walls and ground. So for a Senju in training who might only have a vague sense of their elements if applicable, minimal knowledge of seals, and basic Chakra control, surviving became more of an artform than a reliable process.
That was not exactly Taisei's situation, as he had been prepared with a better understanding of seals than most others. But even then, applying that knowledge was impractical when boars twice your weight want to see what you tasted like. Not to mention, the mere presence of ebony disrupted most external use of Chakra, making many jutsu unusable. Even then, Taisei prevailed more often than not.
He had spent a total of eight months in the pits. Slightly longer than many others, and not close to the longest time. By all metrics, Taisei had plenty of time to potentially awaken Wood release before he would be considered a 'late bloomer'. However, his position as the only child of the clan's Guardian levied a certain expectation onto his shoulders. And the Matriarch certainly agreed with this perspective.
So, with little care for the potential danger of her actions, the Matriarch left a surprise in the pits. Each Senju does not actually spend every day in the pits; after two weeks, they are retrieved and given a few days of rest, proper sleep, and food, before being tossed back. This tends to occur irregularly, so there can be as many as dozens of children in the pits, or as little as one.
On this day, Taisei was one of two Senju in the pit, though they never interacted. And they never would, because of what soon existed alongside them. In the early morning on that day, before most other Senju were awake and before the boars were released from their coves, the Matriarch inserted another boar among the groups. It was not a normal boar, and not just because it was an Asura; rather, it had been brought to the brink of a third shedding through unnatural means. Unnatural, as in force-fed a number of corpses, both Asura and human alike.
A twelve year old Taisei woke up with a start. He had used loose bark, sharp flint, and some hewn roots to construct a sensory boundary of Earth Chakra that would alert him while he slept. Seals such as this were one of the only ways to utilise elemental Chakra without encountering interference from other sources, like the ebony or the barrier. It had not gone off, but an uneasy feeling stirred in his gut. He remembered that there was at least one custodian on watch.
"Mom?" Young Taisei called out in a small voice.
After a few moments, movement from the edge of the trench he was in caught his attention. He looked around and found his mother standing nearby, her image made blurry by the pit's barrier.
"What is it, Taisei?"
Taisei's racing heart calmed at seeing and hearing his mother. Smiling, he pulled himself off the bed of leaves and other forest litter he had placed down, standing fully and inspecting his surroundings.
"Nothing. I just felt something… uh, weird."
He couldn't really see his mother's face, but he watched her head tilt to the side, a sign that she was amused.
"You should get moving, child. The boars should be free to trudge about soon!"
Her lilting tone made him smile. Having pushed his worries away, he reclaimed his makeshift camp and set out. His objective that day was the same as any other. Wait for the stupid Asuras to leave their dens, then sneak in and enjoy a hearty diet of root vegetables. Maybe he would take a bath while he was at it too. Making his way through a series of familiar tunnels and trenches, he found a gap in the wall and prepared his camouflage.
With his skills, the boars would pass right by him on their way out to the rest of the pits. Then, he would be free to make use of their absence. He waited, and felt the telltale rush of energy circulate through the barrier that signalled the opening of the boar's coves. Afterwards, he waited. And waited. Several minutes passed by, but nothing came through the tunnel he was in. There were several passages leading to and from the coves, so it was possible that all the boars had simply rushed out through every other passage; possible, but not plausible.
With extreme caution, Taisei lowered his camouflage. Straining all of his senses, he neither heard nor felt any sign of riling Asuras. With his defences up, he slowly moved down the tunnel, aware that should any boar charge his way he would likely lose the battle of strength and be trampled. When he exited the tunnel into a connecting trench, he was even more disturbed at the silence. And then, no thanks to the built up tension, he nearly jumped out of his skin when a nearby voice spoke.
"Taisei, stay where you are. I need to check something."
It was his mother, standing somewhere above him. She had obviously known exactly where he was and had been following his progress. It was strange for her to give him an order, as custodians are only supposed to monitor. At her statement, she moved away from the ledge.
At the time, Taisei had no clue what was going on. What he didn't know back then was that shortly after leaving, Taiyo Senju found the dead body of the only other child who had been present in the pits.
Despite his mother's words, Taisei grew restless, and decided that he didn't want to be a sitting duck. He knew the kind of dangers that lurked in the pits with him. Most of the Asuras down here were first shedding, but even the few that were second sheddings should be manageable as long as he played it safe. With that knowledge in mind, he maintained a semblance of camouflage while he moved.
Making his way further into the nearest den, he used his budding sensory abilities to scan his surroundings. To his silent surprise, there was… nothing. No vibrations, no movement of life, or any kind of detectable presence. The boars found in the pits were known for many things, but subtlety was not one of them. Moving slowly, Taisei rounded the last corner. What he saw that day still made him shudder in fear.
The boar's dens were not known for their cleanliness by any means. They had access to flowing streams of water, luscious soil with many plants growing all around, lichen cascading down the walls, and even small holes dug into the walls that connected to the surrounding trenches. However, none of that compared to the dozens of dismembered, half-eaten boars that now littered the once comparably pristine space.
Blood and gore covered most any surface his eyes could find. The flies circling ahead were strangely absent, a small sign that should have told the younger Taisei just how recently this massacre had occurred. However, the only thing coursing through his mind at that moment was fear.
That fear grew into terror as a deep rumbling shook his tiny body.
At first, his body had not wanted to turn, to look at what slowly appeared from within the distant shadowy tunnel. But he knew he needed to see it, to know what he was facing. And so, he turned. From that tunnel came a massive muscular boar, blackened fur covered in viscera, black tusks dripping with blood, and deep orange eyes looking right back. The boar was much larger than the others present, and evidently much heavier, as Taisei heard the crunch of bone as it stepped over its uneaten prey.
At the sight, Taisei had been frozen into inaction, stuck in place by the unwillingness to accept what stood before him. That is, until it began to charge. From his eight months in these pits, a single lesson had been burned into his body through hard learned lessons: Do not falter. His body moved without conscious thought, and the rushing boar passed right by him.
Its feet stamped the ground with tremulous force as it raced forward, unable to turn fast enough to miss smashing into the pit walls. Its skin remained unscathed as its momentum curved with the wall onward, visibly carving away at the walls with its tusks. After the first dodge, Taisei's mind had kicked into overdrive and he forced himself to acknowledge the situation. He would not be helpless against a reckless beast, as he was a warrior.
As most Senju eventually figured out, one could sense the level of strength of other shinobi and Asuras. With shinobi, while technically easier due to the presence of Chakra, was ironically unreliable as a shinobi could suppress their Chakra, thus hiding their strength. An Asura's strength was therefore easier to sense, just less precisely due to their lack of Chakra. An Asura exudes a feeling of pressure, and this is how one can usually sense their strength.
The pressure that Taisei felt from the giant boar was much greater than the second shedding Asuras, which to him at the time, must have meant that it was a third shedding. Usually, there were only ever two or three second shedding Asura present at any one time, and they were routinely shifted out of the pits and slaughtered. This was to keep their level of strength lower overall, and reduce the potential urge for them to kill each other.
Even though Taisei was not aware of these facts at the time, he still understood that something was deeply, obviously wrong. If the boars had begun attacking each other, there would have been those that scattered in an attempt to flee. But nothing of the sort had happened, at least as far as Taisei had seen by that point. From his perspective, it looked as if all of the boars had been subdued and then killed one by one, which must have meant that this single boar was the lone instigator of the situation.
Taisei clearly remembered his plan back then, as thrown together as it was. His intention was to lure the boar through the tunnels and trenches, leading it on in large circles while he waited for help to arrive. There was no way he would try to fight it by himself, as that might be suicide. But that didn't mean he wouldn't use the situation to some advantage to himself. His thought process had been that if the boar chased him, then he might as well use the opportunity to test out some traps and figure out potential weaknesses. However, none of that would happen as a voice called out to him.
"Taisei, go to the pit entrance! I will let you out! You need to get out of there, right now. HURRY!"
It was his mother, Taiyo. He hesitated for a few seconds while he watched the massive boar continue to rush around the pit without much thought. He saw how aimless it was. He saw how easy it would be to subdue, as long as they played their hand right. At the time, he had no clue of just how much danger he was in.
"Mother, we can take it! With your help, I can constrain its movement, and we can wait for others to-"
"NO!"
He rocked back in surprise as his mother cut him off. At that point, he finally noticed the tremors in her voice, the uncertainty and fear in her posture, though difficult it was to see through the barrier. If he had been wiser, perhaps he would have listened sooner. But he was out of time.
The massive boar, which had almost completed its circle back around to Taisei's position, suddenly halted its charge, sliding to a complete stop. Eerily, it had ceased all sound as well. It stood completely still, just ten or twelve meters from where Taisei stood. In response, Taisei had not moved either, alarmed by the unexpected sight of the now docile apex predator.
A hissing voice from above caught Taisei's ear.
"Taisei back away slowly, and come to me… I will disrupt the seal, and you can get out, but you need to be fast…"
His feet began to shuffle sideways as he spoke back in a low tone.
"Mom… why did it stop…?"
It was not her who responded.
"Come… to me…"
The voice came from the same direction as his mother's voice. It sounded like the squeaking of leather, mixed with cracking stone. It sent a chill up Taisei's spine, and he saw a similar reaction on the massive boar in front of him as it began to shiver. He had stopped moving toward his mother upon hearing the voice. It was the right choice.
"Mo…m… it… stop…"
Taisei knew that somewhere to his side was the tunnel he had come from. His mother was standing over it. Slowly, he barely turned his body sideways, trying to keep the massive boar in sight while he looked toward where the new voice had come from. The tunnel came into view, and he spotted his mother standing just over the top of it.
What caught all of his attention stood firmly on two legs, its awkward front limbs ending in long spiked fingers that curled into a barrelled chest, topped by a distorted and elongated head that once resembled a boar. Its snout and tusks were replaced by a much too widened mouth filled with curving pointed teeth; above which sat a pair of pale blue human-like eyes that peered right at him.
It stepped forward out of the dark tunnel, and Taisei realised that it had been hunched over. Free from the constrictive tunnel, its back straightened, extending its height to a massive seven feet. Bones cracked into place as its lanky arms fell forward to reveal a distended body, its skin stretching over an unnatural skeletal structure. Its legs were mostly unchanged visually, save for their new length and powerful looking hooves.
Even with its overwhelming physical presence, Taisei distinctly remembered only sensing the large boar. Even then, he could not sense the bipedal boar. There was no pressure, or intensity. It had the ability to suppress its spiritual presence.
"Get… out… need… you…"
Its face contorted while it tried to form the words with great concentration, its gaze never leaving Taisei. Looking back on the scene, Taisei wondered if he could have stopped the situation from devolving further. The Asura had the ability to communicate, and so, perhaps things could have gone better had he tried to communicate back. But he had no way of knowing that back then. And neither did his mother.
Even as a custodian, Taiyo Senju did not have many options for interacting with the pit barrier. All custodians were given the knowledge of how to slip in and out of the barrier, for when a situation turned dire. But pulling others with them was a different matter. They could not simply 'disable' the barrier whenever they wanted, nor could they break it in any meaningful way. After all, it would be poor practice to allow a custodian the option to take children out of harm's way.
Despite that, Taisei knew that custodians could pull kids through the barrier with sufficient effort, even back then. But it required a certain level of speed, and a willingness to accept some pain. At that moment, young Taisei could not even muster the ability to move. If Taiyo had taken the time to get help, they would likely come back to find Taisei dead.
Stiffly, the human-shaped boar leaned forward, placing both front hand-claws on the ground. Its movement was slow and deliberate, and it was too far away to simply bite at Taisei. Small strands of bloody saliva dripped from its mouth as it opened its jaw again, forming words.
"You… human…"
This shocked Taisei just as much as its appearance, as it now seemed to speak directly to him. At the time, he did not think it was actually capable of thinking, but just mimicked speech. He tried to wet his dry mouth to reply.
"Y…Yes?"
Its claws dragged across the ground, and it left long pockets in the gravel beneath their feet. It lifted one limb up over its head. Right as he saw the black rocks clutched in its claws, he understood what was about to happen, right as it croaked out another word.
"Die."
It then hurled the ebony gravel straight toward him. At the same moment, Taiyo entered the pit with a burst of speed, sending a strumming ripple through the barrier. Before Taisei even felt the action, his mother had rushed straight for him, not stopping as she roughly hooked him between her arms and lifted him off the ground. The next few seconds were a blur.
Taisei pulled himself free from the memory as he noticed where he was. Aina had remained silently walking beside him, and stopped when he did. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Taisei attempted to quash the remaining memories. They were painful to relive, and he wanted to remember his mother as she was, and not how she ended. That proved more difficult than usual as he looked out toward the familiar cavernous pit before him; the den heart, the exact same hole where it all took place.
Growing up, Taisei had been told stories of the Senju's strength and power, of their brilliance in combat, and of their mastery over Wood release. Stories of his clan's ruthlessness were kept for when one grew older, and understood more about the world. At that point in his life, Taisei had been coddled when it came to the realities and consequences of killing. He was no stranger to death; he had squashed bugs, hunted small animals, and even watched one boar get dressed and butchered.
But he was wholly unequipped when the monster in boar skin took his mother's life.
The scene flashed once again before him. Down below in the pit, he saw his mother, the two beasts, and himself as he once was. The first massive boar had grown restless, resuming its forward charge and grinding the floor with its massive iron-tough tusks. At the same time, the bipedal boar had taken to chasing himself and his mother, who clutched Taisei with rockhard fingers that dug into his skin. Everything after he had been picked up really was a blur.
At first, he was pretty sure his mother had attempted to jump back through the barrier with Taisei in tow. However, this was not possible due to the ebony specks that had drilled straight through her legs and lower back. They had only hit her when she picked Taisei up, and would have destroyed her Chakra faster than she could infuse and circulate it. So she was left with running, trying to create space between the two of them and the two Asuras.
The sprint didn't last long. All Taisei could do was hold on to his mother for dear life as she ran, bouncing him along with each long stride. His senses could barely feel the presence of the bipedal boar, but he knew it was closing the distance. The massive boar was busy carving out new tunnels through the already dense maze. At the time, and even now, Taisei was sure that his mother had come to the same conclusion he had earlier; keep away until help arrived. Except now, no one else knew about their predicament.
Then, Taiyo collapsed. They had passed through several tunnels and between trenches on their way to wherever, in an attempt to break line of sight. But the moment it was close enough, the Asura once again threw more rocks at crackling speeds. Most of them pinged off the walls, splitting pieces of stone several times larger. However, it only took a few piercing her skin to accomplish the desired result, and Taisei flew forward unceremoniously as Taiyo dropped like an anchor.
Loose bark and gravel, both ebony and not dug into Taisei's palms and arms as he caught himself. They had collapsed in the middle of a long trench with only two exits, a far from optimal position. The bipedal boar stood on the end from where they had entered. A raucous sound disturbed the ground, shaking dirt from the walls as suddenly, the other side of the trench burst in an explosion of dirt and other matter. The massive boar Asura came into view, stomping its feet and grunting upon finding its prey.
Taisei whipped his head back and forth at the appearance of both powerful Asura. As he was, there was no chance he could take either of them out one on one, not unless he had massive amounts of preparation. Before his mind crumpled from fear and gloom, movement from just beside him brought him staring down with sudden hope. His mother was still alive. More importantly, she was moving, and slowly but surely stood.
"Mom, what do we do? I can run now… if we can get past them, we can keep running, I can carry you, just tell me what to-"
"Quiet, please, Taisei."
She raised her hand in placation toward Taisei. He was utterly confused as he saw her close her eyes. Her breathing was still ragged, and she was hobbled on one leg, the other covered in blood. After a moment, her eyes opened, and she stared down at her hand, then flicked to each Asura, before finally settling on Taisei.
She smiled. Her face was covered in ebony burns, dirt, and blood. Her short brown hair was messy. He remembered how much she hated her hair getting messy.
"Taisei… My son…"
She patted his cheek with affection.
"Everything is going to be okay."
Her hand pulled away, slick with tears he didn't remember crying. Without knowing what else to say, he simply nodded.
While she had been comforting him, the two Asuras had slowly closed the distance. The bipedal boar, likely because it was enjoying the hunt. The massive boar, possibly because its rival moved slowly.
"Every… thing… okay… not."
The leathery voice of the bipedal boar cut short any further discussion. Taiyo did not turn to acknowledge the boar, but continued to look down into Taisei's eyes. He didn't remember the next few seconds, likely because he was too shocked to form any kind of thought. His mind had been locked on the image of his mother's last smile. But a sound like tearing wood brought his attention to turn around, where he saw the massive boar suddenly being split in two.
A horrific screech filled the air as the boar let out its remaining breath with as much power as it could muster. However, its struggles were futile as Taisei witnessed his mother leaning into the beast, having used a final burst of speed to strike it head on. Both of her fists were embedded up to the elbow directly into the boar's eyes, and she began to spread her arms to either side.
The boar stood little chance. However, the one thing she failed to predict was its tusks. In her initial strike, she had cleaved most of them away in order to reach the boar's face, as evident by the splintered black fragments falling to the ground in a heap. That was not the end of them, sadly, for the boar had achieved the ability to grow and manipulate its tusks as it pleased. It used this ability to form two massive blackened spears, which went straight through Taiyo's gut.
"M…"
Taisei could not speak as he witnessed the event. With a minor surge of strength, the massive boar lifted Taiyo's body above its head, before flicking downward. Her body flew off of the two straight tusks, straight over Taisei, where she landed with a crunch against the black gravel. The boar then flopped back to the ground, blinded, broken, and exhausted.
She didn't get back up.
At that point, one would think that Taisei would lose his mind, get angry, go into a rage, or fall to his knees in despair. But instead, he stood and stared down at his mother, and spoke in a small voice.
"...Mom?"
He stumbled forward, tripping into a crouch.
"Mom… get up…"
He laid his hands on her side and shook. He could feel the slight tremor as she took a breath. Naively, he thought he could fix it, make her better. He had seen the healer do it dozens of times. All he had to do was focus. The mystical concepts were far from new to him, and something like putting someone back together shouldn't be that hard. He just… had to focus.
"Mom… just hold on, mom… I can do this… give me a minute… please…"
Preparing himself, he infused some active Chakra and flowed it into his hands. Then, with a mental effort, he attempted to clear his mind, pushing forward a single concept.
"Heal."
An image of a cut scabbing over came to mind. He needed something more. Bruises vanishing, sickness fading, colour returning. He needed more, a stronger idea.
"Hold… can… you see… she is… dead."
The leathery voice returned, and Taisei was so detached that he turned his head up to tell the beast to shut the hell up, only to find it looming over him. In a moment of panic, he scrambled backward in a crab walk, his hands burning from touching shards of ebony. He fell on his back in shock from the sight, pulling his hands up over his face in a pleading motion. He vaguely saw the deep red that stained them.
"She… dead… useless… now."
It bent forward, claws outstretched. They dug into her body.
"STOP!"
Taisei moved to advance, but stumbled over his own shaking body. His mind rushed to protect his mother, but his body failed to conquer the stress.
He had repressed the next scene for several years. No child should have to see a person be eaten, let alone their parent. It was only after he confronted his own failing progress in Wood release that he overcame the sight of that monster taking his mother's life.
Despite that, he had not repressed his reaction. The hatred he felt in that moment changed his view of life, changed the way he saw living creatures. It had taken him a long time to understand the complex string of emotions he had felt that day. The sorrow he experienced at the loss of life, the anger at how unfair death was, and the overwhelming bloodlust that bound everything together. His heart tore in his chest as his Chakra nature changed. His Wood release had finally emerged.
And with it, a third predator had entered the pit. He had seen his father use the techniques countless times, and grew up surrounded by tens of Senju awakening and mastering their ability. He had never known the taste of the Chakra, but his mind knew what to do with it the moment he did.
His hands flew together in a single handsign, the same one his father used each time. He barely had to try when infusing Wood release Chakra, it seemed to just be there, waiting for him. Thick bark grew out from the skin across his body, covering every part that couldn't bend, even under his clothes. His face was nearly covered as well from his initial lack of control, but he quickly reshaped the bark without having to touch it. He was completely armoured from head to toe in a span of seconds.
Then came the weapons. From his arms grew short branches, hardening into barbed ends at his mental command. He had shaped Chakra into a point before, when channelling it through a weapon, but this way was so much easier.
By that point, the bipedal boar had taken a step back after witnessing Taisei's change. That was all the movement it got to make before his fist crashed into its snout, catching it completely off guard. Leaving behind a spray of debris, Taisei had charged forward with malicious intent. He was going to kill the Asura in front of him, to that end he was certain. But he would first give it a taste of the pain it had brought onto his mother before that.
A half cry, half scream ripped itself from his throat as he pummelled the Asura's face, his bark-covered fists cracking teeth, splitting skin and breaking bones with each strike. His legs had crossed around the Asura's neck, using them as leverage while he gave in to rage. The boar attempted to claw him back several times, but at that moment, his senses were sharpened to the extreme. Each attempted rebuttal struck only air or grazed his armour as he slid back, ducked, and used his smaller form to expertly manoeuvre around the Asura.
Even when the boar cried out in frustration and rage of its own, Taisei was not done. The Asura tried to kick at him with a leg, and he used the opportunity to bring his elbow down on its knee, simultaneously lining up one of the branches growing out of his armour. The needle-tip pierced the boar's skin, taking a moment to break past its ebony-infused fur, but enough force can solve a lot.
Then, with a twist, he broke the branch off in its leg, receiving a satisfactory yelp in return. The fight continued like this, but Taisei couldn't quite recall how long it went on for. Each time it tried something, like reaching for ebony rocks to throw at him, he used the opportunity to skewer it again. At some point, to his astonishment, the Asura began to beg.
"Pl…ease… give me… stop… no… dead…"
It was bleeding profusely by then, and had fallen to its knees. He had finally run out of sharp sticks, the Asura resembling a porcupine, but Taisei still was not done. He continued to relentlessly beat the creature to death with his hands. After a time, he found himself standing over it, his fists still crashing down into its bloody form.
He was not done.
Until his fist hit the ground, having carved a hole directly through the Asura's chest. He'd barely registered that his body was completely drained of energy. Nearly every iota of Chakra he possessed had just been used to rip apart his enemy. Beneath the bark armour, he was drenched in sweat.
He didn't know when the Asura had died. His fingers ached as he tried to stretch them open, but found himself unable to. At some point, his fists had been encased in bark to keep them more protected. His adrenaline rush had faded, and his mind had begun to detach from the situation. His gaze was drawn down into the Asura's opened chest. A piece of sanguine bark chipped from his body and fell into the crevice, quickly followed by a cascade of fragmented wood as the rest of his armour disintegrated from the lack of energy.
Thinking back on the fight, Taisei was surprised at his own fluid movements at the time. He was by no means a supremely skilled fighter then, or now. The only thing he could think of was that his visceral hatred had blinded him to extraneous thoughts, leaving only the instincts his parents had honed in him. His memories of the next few hours after the fight were patchy at best, but he remembered a few key details. Such as learning that the massive boar had died shortly after sustaining its injuries, and that he had suffered many bone fractures himself. And finally, the fact that he was the only survivor left in the pit.
—
Taisei now stood overlooking the den heart with little appreciation of the scene, trying to let the bad memories fade away. He saw plants growing wildly, the stream of water that washed away everything in its wake, and the boars that cared little for the world outside of their little pocket. Their lives were decided from birth. They would live and die in these pits, while the hapless Senju would continue to grow in power and age.
A question he had asked many years later, after working up the courage, had been about the presence of these two Asuras. He understood the presence of one, as the Matriarch had not been shameless at all in telling both him and his father outright what she had done. But there should not have been a second third shedding Asura. This was the question he had asked his father, and he had only given his speculation that the intelligent Asura must have intentionally fed another, for reasons no one but the beast could ever truly know now.
As he thought about the intentions of the bipedal Asura, he wondered at the current machinations occurring in the clan. For just a moment, Taisei wondered what Kotetsu's fate would be. Was he like these boars, destined to never leave the clan he was now stuck in, forced to exist for their sake? Or was he something more? Taisei honestly didn't know. And he wasn't sure if he was comfortable with the answer, either.
Suddenly, through the murky barrier, he spotted a head of white hair dashing out from one of the countless tunnels, entering right into the den heart. It seemed that Kotetsu had unknowingly rushed into a dangerous situation, with even more Asuras following right on his heels.
—
Kotetsu found exactly what he was looking for. Well, sort of. He hoped. While madly sprinting down winding tunnels, he used a combination of soul sight and a sense of looming pressure to guide his path. He needed as many Asuras for his plan as possible, and it seemed like he would get all of the Asuras, so that might be good. Maybe.
Upon finding the massive open area, his heart soared. He had found a lot of Asuras, and as far as he could see, they should work just fine for his purposes. Most of the Asuras were only in their first shedding, but he saw a few second shedding beasts too. One such caught his eye, and he was stunned at the sight.
It was the damned boar that he had chased in hopes of eating it all those days ago. The one that could change its size at will. It sat in one corner, eating away at a huge bush of… blackberries. That checked out, at least. He didn't have much time to plot his potential revenge, however, as the pit of Asuras turned his way, all spotting him at nearly the exact same time.
Things were about to get messy.